Another one bites the dust or "comme toujours" (French for "same shit")

Falling Star

Alberto Müller Rojas, one of the oldest high ranking chavistas and long-standing military honcho, has just announced he is going to retire because he is tired of seeing "more of the same in Venezuelan politics".

"Seldom does the president listen to me", the former military said. "I would say Chavez and I haven't talked in a year". There is something fundamentally wrong in a country when we hear this over and over again. In Venezuela everybody, specially the president himself, thinks that everything has to be dealt with directly between himself and the president. When all this is over, chavistas will say Chávez was prevented from listening and oppos will just say Chávez was not listening to people.

Müller added: "we are changing an internationalism for a nationalistic petite bourgeoisie (sic)". I reckon what Venezuelans have been doing is to replace a dysfunctional, corrupt democracy for a very corrupt autocracy. Venezuela's cargo cult has just grown stronger. The boliburguesía tends to be even flashier than the better off of other times, which is no minor feat.

I would agree with Müller in saying there is nothing fundamentally new in Venezuelan politics. Still, I disagree on important details. Müller remains an unrepentant extreme left-winger with little understanding of/for democracy, pluralism, open debate and competition of ideas. The ones in power have even less of that. Many within the opposition are in a similar situation, even if they may be less divisive.

New Star

At the same time the new Rising Star of Chavismo, Elías Jaua, says the PSUV has cut ties with their former partners, minor party Patria Para Todos (PPT). We were expecting this after Lara's governor, Henry Falcón, decided to leave the PSUV and join, one more time, PPT.

Jaua: his speciality is wearing red shirts.

So far I see very radical thugs in power, some minor thugs or simply miniautocrats in tiny dissident parties and a myriad of opposition parties - their name is legion - that are in reality no real parties but a bunch of cash-strapped organizations without development plans surrounding uncharismatic proto-caudillos with ties to Caracas, Maracaibo and Valencia only.

I am not saying that I am not excited about the great perspectives ahead of us, I am rather cautious.